Budget session of Parliament likely to begin on February 23
1 Feb 2016 3:39 AM IST
The main focus of the session will be the transaction of the General and Railway budgets but the government is also keen to get passed a number of key reform measures including the contentious GST and Real Estate Bills. Sources said that the session is likely to begin on February 23. Usually, the budget session begins in the third week of February and concludes early May. There is a recess in between when the budgetary demands for grants are discussed in the committees. The General Budget is expected to be presented in the Lok Sabha on February 29, the last day of month, as is the practice traditionally.
Meanwhile, the process for the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, where the tenure of the Assemblies is set to end in May-June, will begin in the midst of the session and that could raise questions about the number of sittings. A curtailment may be necessary to accommodate campaign by leaders during the elections. Against the backdrop of near washout of the previous sessions, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today expressed the hope that Congress will “see reason” and help in passage of GST legislation, which is stuck in the Rajya Sabha during the coming session.
“It (GST) is the important reform of UPA. If I had to credit the authorship of it, I have to give credit to them.
Now, If the author turns against his own script, what do I make... I have reached out (and) I have spoken to them. I have explained to them and I hope they will see reason... (and) see the rationale behind passing GST,” he said speaking at a public function here.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu had earlier this month met Congress President Sonia Gandhi seeking cooperation for the early passage of the crucial GST bill and the Real Estate bill.
Naidu said today that Opposition should refrain from disrupting the proceedings.
“We have no problem. Government is ready to discuss any and every issue,” he said amidst indications that the Opposition might aggressively take up the issue of imposition of President’s rule in Congress-ruled Arunachal Pradesh and the suicide of a dalit student in Hyderabad University.
Cong should see reason, help in GST passage, says Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday hoped the Congress will “see reason” and help in passage of GST legislation, stuck in Rajya Sabha, in the Budget session of Parliament beginning next month.
“It (GST) is the important reform of UPA. If I had to credit the authorship of it, I have to give credit to them.Now, If the author turns against his own script, what do I make... I have reached out (and) I have spoken to them. I have explained to them and I hope they will see reason... (and) see the rationale behind passing GST,” he said.
Speaking at The Economic Times Global Business Summit, Jaitley said the three objections raised by the Congress “go against the grain of what they themselves had brought”.
The minister further said every party with the exception of the Congress is actively supporting the GST Bill. “The UPA allies like the RJD, the NCP and the JD-U are openly supporting it,” Jaitley said, adding that even the Congress-ruled states are for GST.
“I don’t see a reason why they (Congress) should have a rethink on the Bill. If there is a discussion on a particular idea in the Bill, I am willing to discuss with them...certainly, we can’t bound future generations to a flawed legislation,” the minister said.
GST which will subsume all indirect taxes such as excise duty, service tax and sales tax into one uniform rate, is stalled in the Rajya Sabha as the Congress is pressing for three changes.
On whether he took up the GST issue with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at a recent reception hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee, Jaitley answered in the negative. “These are informal occasions, and it is not necessary that you get into a discussion at these forums. I certainly didn’t have any political discussions,” the minister said, adding that he had earlier talked about GST with Congress leaders on several occasions.
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